Method and system for address information distribution

ABSTRACT

A process according to the invention takes daily address information and uses it to update the United States Postal Service (USPS) NCOA database, creating a new database that is current daily. The new database will assist businesses in making corrections to address information prior to printing address labels and delivering the items to a mail or parcel service provider. This process will enable the collection of address change information at near real time, validate the change information, and distribute this new database to licensed users on a daily or more frequent basis.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the automated distribution ofinformation, in particular to lists of address information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Individuals and businesses changes addresses frequently, butinformation concerning the change of address is usually not available atthe time a move becomes effective, resulting in a large waste ofresources by businesses that send mailings to incorrect or formeraddresses. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has both a manual and onlinechange of address procedure, but many times the change is enteredmanually by a USPS employee and it may be days before it becomeseffective.

[0003] Allen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,821 describes a system whereinmail piece addresses and bar codes are scanned and checked against aforwarding address database so that forwarding to the new address canoccur without first sending the mail piece to the old address. Thishelps improve the efficiency of the forwarding process but does notaddress the underlying problem that the mail has been directed to theold address in the first instance.

[0004] Address changes eventually find their way into the NationalChange of Address (NCOA) database maintained by the USPS. The USPSlicenses this database to selected licensees who permit businesses toaccess copies of it to obtain change of address information. Theinformation in this database is not current, i.e., changes of addressare delayed by the time it takes the consumer to complete the COAprocedure and the time it takes the postal service to key in the changeof address information and add the change to the NCOA.

[0005] In a typical procedure currently in use by a mass mailer, themailer first collects data to obtain the names and addresses ofconsumers it would like to contact. It obtains this information from avariety of sources, such as commercially available mailing lists, listsof customers of another entity it has entered into a transaction with,consumer surveys, lists provided by government entities (e.g.,businesses listed with the Secretary of State), and customer repliessuch as returned rebate forms. The data is converted into a uniformworking format. The mailer then compares the entries on the list inorder to update the data, i.e., find and correct any old addresses andrevise the mailing list to reflect the consumer's current address. TheNCOA and other postal databases are used for this purpose, along withany available databases from non-postal sources. The corrected list isthen purged of consumers that should not be contacted, such as personswho are on a do not mail list. The Direct Mailer's Association (DMA)maintains a list of consumers that have registered with the DMA in orderto not be contacted with direct mail solicitations. At this point, themailing is created and sent out based on the revised and corrected list.This procedure is partially effective at avoiding wasted mailings to thewrong address, but will be ineffective to the extent that the change ofaddress database(s) such as the NOCA used to generate the mailing listare not current.

[0006] Current list processes and change of address data available tocommercial businesses are not timely. Present systems are not effectivein locating address change data. Businesses purchasing a NCOA licensereceive weekly COA updates. Current statistical data indicates that anaverage of 118,000 address changes occur daily, or 826,923 moves perweek. Household moves create mail that cannot be delivered, resulting inlost or delayed information, mail, and parcels to consumers and resultsin time and money lost to a business. Present processes require thatUndeliverable as Addressed mail and parcels are returned to the senderor forwarded according to standardized rules. This process is bothcostly and time consuming. Present systems and processes are not timelyand are not readily available to the public. A need therefore remainsfor a system for distributing change of address database on a more rapidbasis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] A process according to the invention takes daily addressinformation and uses it to update the United States Postal Service(USPS) NCOA database, creating a new database that is current daily. Thenew database will assist businesses in making corrections to addressinformation prior to printing address labels and delivering the items toa mail or parcel service provider. This process will enable thecollection of address change information at near real time, validate thechange information, and distribute this new database to licensed userson a daily or more frequent basis.

[0008] The invention in one aspect provides a method for distributingchange of address information more rapidly than is possible with thenational change of address (NCOA) database maintained by the U.S. PostalService. In particular, a method for distributing change of addressinformation more current than a master postal change of address databasesuch as the NOCA includes the steps of:

[0009] (a) obtaining information concerning changes of address fromsources other than the master change of address database, whichinformation is more recent than address changes reflected in the masterdatabase;

[0010] (b) compiling such recent address change information into acomputer-searchable enhanced change of address database; and

[0011] (c) distributing information from the enhanced database to one ormore customers. In a preferred form of the method, the enhanced databaseis updated with change of address information forwarded to the enhanceddatabase by customers, which information is combined with the dailychange of address data due for inclusion in the master database.

[0012] A system for distributing change of address information morecurrent than a master postal change of address database, includes meansfor electronically obtaining information concerning changes of addressfrom sources other than the master database, which information is morerecent than address changes reflected in the master database, acomputer-searchable enhanced change of address database containing suchrecent address change information, means for compiling such recentaddress change information in order to create updated versions of thecomputer-searchable enhanced change of address database, and means fordistributing information from the enhanced database to one or morecustomers. Such means will generally comprise suitable software andcomputer and network hardware as needed to run such software. The meansfor distributing information to customers is most preferably a systemthat transmits such information through a network, but also includesother conventional options for distributing machine readable data, suchas sending a data storage device (DVD, CD, hard drive or the like)having the information saved thereon in machine-readable form to thecustomer. Similarly, a “database” for purposes of the invention is anyorganized compilation of the referenced information that ismachine-readable, such as a table in memory or a file containing addressdata records saved on a permanent storage device such as a hard drive orDVD. In the foregoing system, it is preferred to also provide a copy ofthe master database and suitable means for searching both the enhanceddatabase and master database in response to a customer request.

[0013] Subscribers will use the enhanced database in a variety of ways.Some subscribers that have a existing customer list to be checkedagainst the enhanced database at the time a mailing is created. Toexpedite this, the mailer can provide a copy of the customer list to theenhanced database provider in advance, and the provider compares it tothe enhanced database to create a fast address change lookup table. Thesubscriber then receives access to the lookup table and may check itprior to making a mailing. In the alternative, upon receiving a mailinglist from the subscriber, a revised version of the mailing list isprepared using data corresponding to addresses on the subscriber'smailing list from the enhanced database, and the revised mailing list issent back to the subscriber.

[0014] According to a further aspect of the invention, data from themaster database is used to create a long-term move history database. TheU.S. postal service only maintains records of old addresses for the last3 years. However, there may be instances such as a search for a missingperson wherein older former addresses may be of interest. Accordingly,the move history database maintains records of moves with no limit onhow long the information is retained, e.g. 10 or 20 years or more,creating a chain of moves for a given postal recipient. These and otheraspects of the invention are further described and discussed in thedetailed description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0015] In the accompanying drawing, wherein like numerals represent thesame or similar elements throughout:

[0016]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information system accordingto the invention;

[0017]FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process of the invention for providingupdated address data to a mailing list provider; and

[0018]FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a process of the invention for providingupdated address data to a bulk mailer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Change of address data comes primarily from the USPS on a weeklybasis and is called National Change of Address (NCOA) database. The NCOAdatabase is made available weekly to licensed users. The process of theinvention provides a method to capture, manipulate and distribute changeof address data on a daily basis.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the process of theinvention involves data communication between the USPS National CustomerSupport Center (NCSC) site 10 or an NCOA licensee, a central change ofaddress update server 11, and a number of customer servers 12. Server11, which may be located at site 10 or may be privately operated,communicates with USPS's COA mainframe computer 13 through a network.Baseline change of address data comes daily to NCSC 10 as a result ofscanning of change of address forms submitted by consumers, such as bythe process described in commonly owned Bruce et al. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/534,182, filed Mar. 24, 2000, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference herein, and by electronicchange of address (ECOA) system 14 provided by the USPS. The scanning ofaddress forms may be carried at postal processing and distributioncenters (P&DC's) that for this purpose each operate a computer formprocessing system (CFPS) 15. Updates are accumulated on a daily nationalmove database 16 and are posted once per week to an official nationalmove database 17, such as the NCOA. Database 17 is preferably a historicdatabase, or else archives its older records to a separate historicaldatabase, maintaining a history of moves that occurred within apredetermined period of time, such as the last 5 or more years, e.g., 5,10, 15 or 20 years.

[0021] Central change of address update server (“CAUSE” server) 11maintains and accumulates address change updates from a variety ofsources. Daily update information from postal daily database 16 iscompiled by directory generation (DIRGEN) software 18 and transmitted toserver 11. CAUSE server 11 also receives updates of local address dataand optionally mailing statistics from customer servers 12.

[0022] The national daily updates, weekly updates delivered on DVD disc22, and customer daily local data updates are each subject to potentialerrors and are therefore preferably validated using validation softwarebefore use in the system of the invention. Validation procedures may beelaborate or complex, and many such are presently in use. Gross errorchecking may be carried out to verify that the date of the change isvalid (more recent than the last received) and that the data does notcontain corrupt records containing invalid characters. Validation canalso involve enhancement of the address data, for example consulting theUSPS AMS2 (Address Management System 2) database for street addresses,and also checking tables for aliases, building names and the like. Newdata may then be added to the record, such as the name of a building, inaddition to its street address. Variant names known to be associatedwith the same recipient may be normalized to a single standard form. Asa minimum the old address is double checked against a national databaseof valid addresses to verify that the address exists, and that therecipient lived there. Verification that the new address exists may alsobe carried out. In the event that a change of address record cannot bevalidated, it can either be dropped or flagged as suspect and retained,along with an error message or explanation of which validation could notbe completed. Some addresses, such as those addressed to militarypersonnel, cannot be address verified but nonetheless need to beretained in the system.

[0023] Weekly updates from database 17 are sent on DVD 22 or in anyother convenient form and incorporated into a weekly national change ofaddress database 23 stored on server 11. Customer daily updates receivedby update input software 21 are forwarded to daily update softwaremodule 19, which receives the daily update from DIRGEN (DirectoryGeneration Process) 18. These two sources are each validated andcombined. In the event of a conflict between an address change reportedby a customer server and one reported as part of a daily update from theNCSC, rules of priority are established as to which change will takeprecedence in the merged data. The operator of server 11 may opt totrust local data reported from a trusted customer as much as informationreceived from the NCSC. In such a case, the most current (last toarrive) data will take precedence regardless of its source. A similarprocess must be followed whenever data is merged as described hereafter.

[0024] A copy of the merged daily update data is encrypted such as byMicrosoft CryptoAPI, wherein user access and interfaces are protectedthrough user accounts and passwords, such as are commonly available inthe industry. In addition, it may be desirable to permit direct customeraddress requests to be processed directly at server 11. For thispurpose, the daily update is converted by conversion software 24 to abinary form suitable for merging into a fast lookup table 25. Securityaccess rules can be configured to assure that only valid addresssearches are performed. Lookup table 25 includes data received duringthe week that is more current than the last weekly update received fromthe server 17. Once again, later entries override earlier ones as far aspriority in the lookup table 25 is concerned. However, this does notrequire that the superceded entry be dropped from the table. Rather, themost current entry may be flagged as the preferred one in the table.This is useful insofar as a customer inquiry may ask for a single mostrecent address for a given recipient, or instead may ask for all recentCOA data concerning the recipient. Lookup table 25 is preferably storedin memory for rapid access and to permit editing of the table “on thefly,” that is, by changing the content of memory locations while thetable is being read or written to by other processes. For purposes ofthe invention, a “fast lookup table” is a database set up as a series orarray of discrete records or entries in a form that permits rapidcomputer access; the architecture and format of table 25 may vary. Acopy of table 25 is written periodically to permanent storage media suchas a hard drive for backup purposes. The daily backup data is alsoforwarded to an archive software module 26 that saves the daily updatesin case they are needed later, such as to resolve a problem or determinewhether a more recent update is a duplication of material previouslyreceived. Generally, this archive will be retained for only a limitedtime due to storage limitations, such as 30 days.

[0025] A customer that does not have its own server 12 may wish to haveits mailing list checked against the data on CAUSE server 11. Thecustomer interacts with a customer query interface module 27 thatreceives the customer address list and compares it to the data on CAUSEserver 11. In general, this process preferably involves first checkingeach address against the fast lookup table 25. If a hit is foundindicating a move, the address list is corrected to reflect the changeand optionally a report is prepared for the customer listing the changesmade. If no hit is found in table 25, the list is then compared againstweekly COA database 23, and a similar procedure is followed if anaddress on the customer's list matches a move entry in the database 23.The more recent change of address data stored in table 25 will normallytake priority over the older information in the weekly database 23. Ifthe customer has requested a complete list of all changes of address orother events possibly indicating a move associated with an address orrecipient, then corresponding entries from both database 23 and table 25can be searched and listed in a report, subject to securityauthorization.

[0026] Server 11 and database 23 are used to prepare a national dailyupdate that is sent to a master change of address server 12 located ateach of the subscribing customer sites. This information is received bya daily update input software module 31 and passed to merge software 32that converts it to a binary format in the same manner as software 24described above. Daily data from merge software 32 is saved by anarchive software module 33 that saves the daily updates in the samemanner as described above for archive software module 26. The formatteddata is then entered into a customer fast lookup table 34. In a systemwhere multiple customers are contributing local data to server 11,lookup table 34 will take into account both official daily changes fromthe NCSC and local changes from all customers. Each customer maintainsits own weekly COA database 35 that receives weekly updates 36 fromserver 11, which updates 36 correspond to the DVD update 22 receivedfrom the mainframe COA computer 13 at the NCSC. Each customer alsomaintains a database or fast lookup table 37 of COA data that has beeninput locally by the customer itself. This local data will generallyconsist of address changes the customer has been notified of directly,as by a consumer giving notice of a change of address to a bank orcredit card company that maintains a customer server 12. As such, thisdata is more current than table 34 or database 35. Once per day thisinformation is exported by each customer back to server 11 to thecustomer daily update software 21, as described above, so that othercustomers have the benefit of the information.

[0027] A customer query interface 38 is used whenever a local user atthe customer wishes to check one or more addresses, such as prior tosending out billing statements or other mailings. In a typical process,the local move database 37 is consulted first, and if a match is found,the customer uses the updated address information found in database 37.Each customer is most likely to rank its own internal records highest inpriority. If no match is found in database 37, then lookup table 34 andweekly database 35 are each consulted, in that order. In other words,move information in database 37 gets higher priority than lookup table34 based on national updates and other customers' local data, and moveinformation in table 34 gets higher priority than weekly database 35.

[0028] It has been found that use of local data according to theinvention can improve address hit rates up to 20%. Local customercomputer systems will query their CAUSE server 12 prior to running anaddress list or printing addresses. Customer COA master server 12, shownin FIG. 1, can provide corrected address data corrected in real time. Toprovide data to multiple systems requesting data in real time, change ofaddress slave servers 41 are used. The slave servers 41 are maintainedwith the same databases that are stored in the master server 12. Slaveservers 41 are updated periodically, such as daily, following an updateto the customer master server 12. Local data is preferably validatedprior to entry into database 37, or may be used as is, at the customer'soption.

[0029] The present invention thus provides an enhanced change of addressdatabase that starts with a master change of address database such asthe NCOA or an equivalent official COA database and providesenhancements to it from other sources. In the foregoing example, weekly,daily and local data are referenced as separate databases or lookuptables. This is a preferred structure for programming purposes, but itwill be evident to those of skill in the art that other databasearchitectures are possible. It may in some applications be useful tocombine weekly, daily and local data into a single enhanced change ofaddress database that may contain only a single entry per recipient,based on rules of priority, or may contain multiple entries perrecipient which a customer may wish to evaluate.

[0030] As noted above in connection with validation, a number ofexternal sources may be consulted for information that will be used torevise or supplement information received from the NCSC or othersources. The USPS maintains, for example, separate alias databases forboth addresses and nicknames. Where one of the alias databases gives analternative name or address for a postal customer references in themaster database, the corresponding change is made in the enhanceddatabase. The alias databases are updated from time to time and thus itis most preferred to compare the current master database such as NCOAwith the alias database on a regular (daily or weekly) basis. The USPSalso maintains a nickname list that tells the gender of a recipient,along with special titles such as military or educational titles(Captain, Colonel, Professor, etc.) which can be added to the enhanceddatabase so that the correct title can be used in a mailing. The USPSfurther maintains a database of temporary moves that is separate fromthe NCOA. The enhanced database can be amended to reflect effectiveaddresses during time ranges, so that mailings reach the recipient atthe appropriate address.

[0031] Local data is not limited to contributions from customers. Somelocal data may be researched and obtained by the operator of server 11and input in the same manner as local data sent from a customer server12. A change of address may be reflected in the records of anon-customer credit card company well in advance of a correspondingchange in the master database. Accordingly, where the credit cardcompany database shows a move for a postal customer that is not yetreflected in the master database, the new address can be used in theenhanced database. Credit card companies and police also maintain theftof identity files. This information may be used, for example, todetermine that an address appearing in the NCOA is incorrect and shouldnot be used, that a postal recipient is a sham and does not exist, orthe like. Police maintain hot lists of addresses to which mail is beingintercepted or trapped and is unlikely to reach the recipient. A directmailer may, for example, not wish to send advertising mailings to anaddress on this list, and thus the enhanced database reflects the hotlist status of an address.

[0032] Municipalities maintain deceased files. If a person listed in theNCOA is recently deceased, the enhanced database reflects this and themailer consulting the enhanced database may decide not to send a mailingto that address. County real estate records list the current owner ofreal property. This information can be compared to the master databaseto determine if correction in required in the enhanced database.

[0033] Federal government agencies may learn of a move before theinformation becomes part of the NCOA. For example, a taxpayer mayindicate a change of address to the IRS. Accordingly, consulting an IRSaddress database may provide further updates to the enhanced databaseserver 11. In the event of a natural disaster, the USPS or othergovernmental entities can provide advanced notice or areas in which mailcannot be delivered.

[0034] In some cases, a mailer may be interested in the formation of anew business as reflected in the records of the Secretary of State forthe state in which the new business is incorporated. This data can bepartitioned to permit or restrict selected files being accessed byindividual customers, for example, only upon presentation of a courtorder. This information can be added to the enhanced database,permitting a mailing to reach the new business. Electronic address listson the Internet may also be consulted and compared to the masterdatabase to detect a move. Electronic telephone or business listings onthe Internet may be more current than the master database. These sourcescan be downloaded by FTP transfer or otherwise from specific URL's,either as files created by prearrangement with the provider, or as filesalready publicly available on the Internet, as public records orotherwise. In some instances, a change in telephone number may be anindication that a recipient has moved.

[0035] The software used to implement the foregoing may be provided withappropriate logic for dealing with the relative reliability of data fromdifferent sources, and when such data is good enough to indicate that achange of address has occurred. Corroboration of a move from two or morelocal sources can be used as a criterion for improving a confidencelevel that a move has in fact occurred. Some local sources ofinformation may develop a track record for reliability, while others mayover time prove to have a high error rate. According to a further aspectof the invention, the hit/miss rate of a given local source ofinformation is tracked and later taken into account in assigning aconfidence level to the change of address data from that source.

[0036] In some cases, the external or local data source suggests that amove has occurred, but does not indicate a new address. The user, forexample, may see an entry for John Q. Doe that lists a last known postaladdress (from NOCA) and an additional note that the property at thataddress was recently sold, according to local real estate records, fromJohn Q. Doe to someone else, suggesting that a mailing to that addressmay not reach the intended recipient.

[0037] For legal reasons related to privacy (such as court orders), theinformation made available to the customer may not include the updatedaddress even if that address is known with a high level of confidence inthe enhanced database. However, the subscriber may still be interestedin knowing, for example, that a change of address has occurred at acertain address or for a certain individual, even if the change ofaddress information cannot be given out without the individual'spermission or until it becomes publicly known. A utility, for example,may be interested in knowing that one or more addresses are flagged withfrequent changes of address for purposes of deciding to continue orterminate service at that address.

[0038]FIG. 2 illustrates a process by which a direct mailer, listprovider or other subscriber would utilize the enhanced COA database ofthe invention. As described above, such a subscriber normally creates amailing list by going through successive steps of data collection (step32), format conversion (step 34), updating of address data (step 36) andpurging of addresses listed on do not mail lists (step 38). These stepsmay be followed by a step of merging two or more such lists togetherinto a master mailing list (step 40). These steps may be repeated eachtime the master list is used, or only after a certain time interval haspassed.

[0039] In one option according to the invention, such as would be usedby commercial mailing list providers, the master mailing list is thensent to server 11 the entity operating the enhanced database (step 44)in a predetermined format by email, FTP, or the like. Names andaddresses on the master mailing list are then compared to correspondingentries in the enhanced database (step 46), and a computer generatedrevised mailing list is prepared by server 11 (step 48). The revisedlist will, for example, including an updated name or address obtainedfrom local data as discussed above, if considered reliable, or maydelete addresses from the list based on current information from localdata or external sources. The list provider receives back the enhancedlist (step 50) and distributes it to its clients (step 52). The processis repeated on a periodic basis as agreed between the database operatorand the subscriber.

[0040] In another embodiment described in FIG. 3, the subscriber is abulk mailer that carries out steps (32)-(40) in essentially the samemanner as the mailing list provider. The mailing list is then revised inview of differences found in the enhanced database (steps 44, 46, 48).The mailer then electronically presorts the addresses for the mailingaccording to the revised list (step 54). The mail is then printed insequence (step 56) and the mail pieces created (step 58) and then mailed(step 60).

[0041] The enhanced database server 11 can also provide reports tocustomers including indicators derived from long-term statistics. Forexample, if a single address has been the subject of more than a certainnumber of moves in a period of time, for example, then a frequent movesflag can be set for that address. The historical database can beaccessed to obtain this information. Demographic information can also becompiled from move statistics and provided to interested parties such asadvertisers.

[0042] Although various embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in the foregoingdetailed description, it will be understood that the invention is notlimited to the embodiments disclosed but, as will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art, is susceptible to numerous modifications andvariations without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas hereinafter claimed. For example, the weekly database used by thecustomer may be provided directly by the USPS, rather than from server11.

1. A method for distributing change of address information more currentthan a master postal change of address database, comprising: (a)obtaining information concerning changes of address from sources otherthan the master change of address database, which information is morerecent than address changes reflected in the master database; (b)compiling such recent address change information into acomputer-searchable enhanced change of address database; and (c)distributing information from the enhanced database to one or morecustomers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the master postal change ofaddress database is updated on a weekly basis, further comprisingupdating the enhanced database with daily change of address data due forinclusion in the master database before the master database is updatedto include such daily data.
 3. The method of claim 3, wherein step (c)further comprises creating copies of the enhanced database on aplurality of customer servers.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising updating the enhanced database with local change of addressinformation forwarded to the enhanced database by customers.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising updating the enhanced databasewith local change of address information forwarded to the enhanceddatabase by customers, which information is combined with the dailychange of address data due for inclusion in the master database.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises creating anaddress change lookup table, and allowing access to the lookup table tothe customer.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (c) furthercomprises: receiving a mailing list from the subscriber; preparing arevised version of the mailing list using data corresponding toaddresses on the subscriber's mailing list from the enhanced database;and sending the revised mailing list to the subscriber.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the master database is the USPS NCOA database.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the sources other than the master change ofaddress database including one or more of an address alias database, aname alias database, a temporary moves database, credit card companychange of address records, theft of identity records, police hot lists,death records, real estate records, records of federal agencies otherthan the postal service, state government databases, electronic addresslists on the Internet, and electronic telephone listings on theInternet.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprisesencrypting information to be distributed from the enhanced database to acustomer, and decrypting the information upon receipt by the customer.11. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises providingcustomers with selective access to information from the enhanceddatabase.
 12. A system for distributing change of address informationmore current than a master postal change of address database,comprising: means for electronically obtaining information concerningchanges of address from sources other than the master database, whichinformation is more recent than address changes reflected in the masterdatabase; a computer-searchable enhanced change of address databasecontaining such recent address change information; means for compilingsuch recent address change information in order to create updatedversions of the computer-searchable enhanced change of address database;and means for distributing information from the enhanced database to oneor more customers.
 13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a copyof the master database and means for searching both the enhanceddatabase and master database in response to a customer request.